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Chip Kelly on the McCoy-Cole scuffle, the hype of the draft, Matt Barkley, and Malcolm Jenkins

The scuffle between LeSean McCoy and Trent Cole happened right in front of Chip Kelly on Sunday, but Kelly did not think it was a big deal. He attributed the attention to a slow news day.

"Their emotions got the better part of them, and those things happen," Kelly said before Monday's practice. "It's like sometimes little kids don't get along very well and throw Tonka trucks at each other. The fact that it made SportsCenter must have meant it was a real slow news day. Two kids push each other at practice somewhere, not a big deal."

**Chip Kelly knows the importance of the NFL Draft in building the roster. But Kelly does not like the hype surrounding the draft. Before Monday's practice, Kelly expounded on comments made to theMMQB.

'Literally, from the day the Super Bowl ends until the draft, with was the end of May, the beginning of June, might get pushed to July at some point, that's all everybody talks about," Kelly said. "I felt the same way in college. You devote everything to the Signing Day. Well, how many of those guys on the Signing Day are going to contribute? You may one or two of your rookies who have an impact on your team, but the rest of them, it's a part of having them develop."

Kelly joked that even he falls asleep at the Combine, so he does not understand why fans watch it on television. And with all the attention on the draft, Kelly thinks the expectations for the player are too high.

"If someone is a rookie coming into the newspaper thing, I don't think you all just start applauding and say, 'Oh, my god, our paper is saved because we just signed a kid out of Northwestern that really has good prose'," Kelly told reporters. "It's not that big of a deal, but in football, it seems to be the biggest thing in the world. And if a guy isn't an all-pro in his first year but was drafted in the first five picks, they say he's a bust, but I don't think that's the case."

**Kelly fought against the perception that Matt Barkley had a poor spring. He said that observers who watch practice only see the result of the play, but don't know the intent of the play.

"I think people make misconceptions watching practice," Kelly said. "The quarterback missed that guy, well did the receiver run the wrong route? Boy, the quarterback threw the ball where no one is there, so it's the quarterback's fault? Well, a lot of time it's the receiver's fault."

Kelly said that at this point in the summer, the Eagles are trying to maximize reps, so there should be little read into when Barkley takes snaps.

**When Kelly was asked what he would like to see from safety Malcolm Jenkins during camp, he answered, "to not get hurt."

"He's really done a great job of stepping in that other safety spot opposite Nate [Allen]," Kelly said. "He's been real decisive with what he's doing. He's been a great leader in the locker room and in the meeting rooms. He's got a really, really good football knowledge. He's done a great job with our staff in terms of asking a lot of interesting questions. ..I think he's really fit in better than anyone our staff thought he was going to fit in, just because we weren't familiar with him. But he's a football player, and he adds a lot of stability back there."

zberman@phillynews.com

@ZBerm